Summary

  • Jensen Huang has resigned as CEO of tech giant Nvidia, the company's board says, with chief financial officer Colette Kress appointed interim boss

  • The company's shares have recovered some ground after plummeting more than 13% when US markets opened shortly after news of Huang's resignation

  • On Sunday, Huang admitted an affair with a woman, who was reportedly from another company and suspected to be a Chinese spy

  • The New York Times has since reported that Huang had a second affair with an executive at his own company

  • Huang steered Nvidia to enormous success, and in an extraordinary and strangely old-fashioned tale for a future-looking tech firm, he was ultimately undone by his love life, our technology and AI editor writes

  • Meanwhile, Beijing has warned the US not to use the spying allegations as a pretext to once again restrict tech sales to China

Watch: What we know so far about Nvidia CEO resignation

Live Reporting

Edited by Jamie Whitehead and Ben Hatton, with technology and AI editor Zoe Kleinman and business reporter Rachel Clun

  1. Why is Nvidia so important?

    US tech giant Nvidia is the world's most valuable publicly-traded company - worth some $4.5tn (£3.4tn) - and a leading provider of advanced computer chips.

    These computer chips are critical for all kinds of technology - from video games and autonomous vehicles to massive data centres and cloud servers.

    But most importantly for the AI arms race, these chips are used to power artificial intelligence, including large language models and generative AI systems.

    The US's biggest competitor in the race to build the most powerful AI systems is China, and Washington has restricted exports of the most advanced Nvidia chips to Beijing since 2022.

    The US has justified export restrictions on national security grounds, arguing that such exports could enhance China's military capabilities, although some restrictions have been eased under President Trump.

  2. Nvidia's share price plunges in after-hours trading

    Michael Race
    Business and economics reporter

    Shares in Nvidia, the world's second most valuable company behind Apple, have plunged almost 7.5% in after hours trading.

    The chip-making giant ended the day on Wall Street in positive terrority after a difficult few days following the news of an affair between CEO Jensen Huang and a woman alleged to be a Chinese spy.

    But that has changed since the market closed, with reports of a second affair emerging.

    Nvidia is widely considered one of the most important companies behind the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, given it is the sole manufacturer of a computer chip used in AI tools.

    Its chips have become a matter of national security for US officials who are keen to win the AI race against China.

  3. Nvidia board meets over future of CEO Jensen Huang

    Kali Hays
    US technology reporter

    US tech giant Nvidia is reportedly looking today at whether its CEO will remain with the company.

    The company's board is meeting as its stocks plummeted following US media reports about a second alleged affair involving CEO Jensen Huang.

    While the company just yesterday hired a major law firm to conduct an investigation into Huang's affair with a woman who is allegedly a spy for China, today the New York Times reported that Huang also had an affair with an Nvidia employee.

    That pushed the board to consider Huang's ongoing position as CEO of the company, according to reports from the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times.

    Nvidia's board had previously appeared supportive of Huang, saying it had no reason to believe the company's secrets or national security were compromised related to Huang's first affair.

    As of late Wednesday evening, Nvidia's board had not released any statement. Calls to multiple company representatives and Nvidia board members have not received a response.

    Follow along as we bring you the latest on this story.

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